Marty Brickey, a consultant and serial entrepreneur based in Orlando, Florida, has made public a personal rule he has quietly practiced for years: he cycles four to five days a week and does not take strategy calls before that ride happens. The announcement, while personal, carries implications for business leaders in Long Beach and beyond who are reevaluating how they structure their days and make high-stakes decisions.
Brickey, who founded Layne Morgan Media in 2002 and later founded Flyover Entertainment—which included Secret Lair Studios, Grumpy Ninja Studios, and Studio Chi'n—frames the commitment not as a fitness plan but as a sequencing rule. "I used to think the calendar belonged to whoever asked for it first," Brickey said. "Now the ride goes on the calendar before anything else does." The rule is specific: no calls involving a decision, a negotiation, or a hire before the ride is done. Purely informational calls are permitted, but anything requiring him to choose is pushed until after.
The practice matters because it challenges a common executive norm: the early-morning strategy call. Brickey argues that the order of a day changes the quality of the answers a person gives. "A decision made at six in the morning, before I've cleared my head, is not the same decision I'd make at nine," he said. "I've tested this enough times to trust it." He also links his early career lack of balance to direct business losses, stating, "That wasn't a minor issue. It was a direct cause of a lot of loss. I don't say that lightly."
For the business community, the announcement raises a practical question: whether protecting a non-negotiable morning block—exercise, walking, or otherwise—could improve decision-making and reduce costly missteps. Brickey's rule is measured by whether it survives a busy week. "Anyone can protect their morning when nothing is happening," he said. "The test is whether you protect it when three people are waiting on you. That's the only week that counts." He expects to fail occasionally, adding, "If I never break it, I'm probably not being tested enough. The point isn't perfection. The point is that the default goes back to the ride, not to the phone."
Brickey also credits long walks, separate from cycling, as a tool for pushing through self-doubt or a stuck decision. "When I hit a wall on a problem, I don't sit at the desk and grind on it," he said. "I walk it out. Most of the time the answer shows up somewhere in the middle of that walk, not at the start."
While Brickey is based in Orlando, his message resonates with founders and executives in Long Beach and surrounding areas who face constant pressure to answer fast. By naming the rule publicly, he hopes to encourage others to put something before the phone. "I'm not telling anyone to take up cycling," he said. "I'm telling them to put something before the phone. It doesn't matter what it is, as long as it happens first and nothing moves it." The implication is clear: in a business culture that prizes responsiveness, deliberately sequencing decisions after a grounding activity may be a competitive advantage—and a safeguard against the kind of losses Brickey says he once experienced.
